Palo Alto, California – (Business Wire) – December 03, 2018 – LifeMax Laboratories, Inc. (“LifeMax”), a private company focused on treating diseases with few or no therapeutic options, today announced the appointment of Kirk Johnson, Ph.D., to the position of VP, Preclinical Development. In this role, Dr. Johnson will be responsible for and provide strategic leadership to all aspects of nonclinical development for the entire pipeline. In addition to several preclinical stage programs, LifeMax has two clinical stage drug candidates in development. LM-030 has successfully completed a human proof of concept study for Netherton Syndrome, and LM-011 is ready to enter into a human proof of concept study.  

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“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Kirk Johnson into our senior leadership. Dr. Johnson is a proven leader of research and development across multiple therapeutic areas and drug platforms including small molecules, antibodies and gene therapy.  His in-depth yet broad expertise bode very well with our diversified portfolio,” said Larry Hsu, LifeMax’s Co-founder and CEO, an industry veteran who previously founded and built Impax Laboratories into a publicly traded multi-billion dollar company.

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“I am very pleased to join the LifeMax management team. Well-funded and with a robust and diverse pipeline, LifeMax presents an exciting growth opportunity. I look forward to working with the team to advance the development of our drug candidates,” said Dr. Johnson.

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Dr. Kirk Johnson is a seasoned biotech and pharmaceutical industry leader with ~25 years of experience at companies including Chiron/Novartis, Xoma and Avigen. He has authored ~90 peer reviewed publications, served as reviewers to journals including Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and is an inventor on ~30 issued patents. Dr. Johnson received his Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from the Medical College of Virginia and did post-doctoral training at Dartmouth Medical School and U.C. Berkeley.